History

Governance

The Legislative Council is led by a Director of Research who appointed by a 18 person legislative committee comprising of members of the Colorado Legislature[1].

Services offered

Fiscal notes

The Colorado Legislative Council provides fiscal notes for any bill or resolution that has impacts towards state or local governments[2]. This is done with any bill, but the fiscal notes are used towards bills that involve appropriations or budgets

Initiative Process

The Colorado Legislative Council plays a big role in the initiative process in Colorado. The Legislative Council meets to approve all language for all ballot measures that have qualified in Colorado. Also, Legislative Council provides a fiscal impact statement which is mandatory for all ballot measures. This is done to determine impacts on any state agency or local government[3].

Once the analysis is complete, the Legislative Council prepares an official booklet which is published to Colorado voters on the actual language and fiscal impacts of ballot measures[3]. The name of the official booklet is known as the Colorado Blue Book[3].

Legislative library

The Legislative Council is also responsible for keeping archives of activity in the Colorado General Assembly. This includes all previous bills, summaries of legislative committee hearings, and handling all reference questions for members of the Colorado General Assembly[4].

Legislative research

The Legislative Council provides all legislative research for members of the Colorado General Assembly. Legislative Council does all research memos along with all requests for bill drafting. Also, the Legislative Council assigns a staff member that works with each of the standing committees in the Colorado General Assembly to manage along with committee members the committee's agenda, bills up for consideration, and doing any reference or research at the request of a standing committee[5].